A U.S. government advisory panel of medical and nutrition experts on Thursday recommended an environmentally friendly diet lower in red and processed meats. But the panel would reverse previous guidance on ...

The use of statins may not be associated with lowering risk for Parkinson's disease, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and National Institute of Environmental Health ...

The latest word from an advisory panel that helps form U.S. dietary guidelines confirms what nutritionists have been saying in recent years: Cholesterol-rich foods like eggs and shrimp aren't as bad for us ...

No one wants to have child who is born underweight, but for numerous reasons, this may be unavoidable. An intriguing research report involving rats suggests that helping fetuses achieve optimal weight before birth is of even ...

If your "bad" cholesterol level stays the same or increases after you take statin drugs, you may have more blocked arteries than people whose levels drop, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Arteriosclerosis, Th ...

More than half of patients with symptoms of mental illness - and nearly one-third of those who also had diabetes - said their health care providers had never told them to exercise or reduce their intake of dietary fat, according ...

Older adults with limited mobility may lower their risk of heart attack and coronary death for every minute of physical activity, according to research in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

(HealthDay)—People who follow a heart-healthy diet won't see much change in their eating habits if, as reported, this year's U.S. Dietary Guidelines report rescinds previous warnings against eating certain ...

The bariatric surgical procedure biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch resulted in more weight loss and better improvement in blood lipids and glucose five years after surgery compared with usual gastric bypass surgery ...

Feb 04, 2015

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Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a lipidic, waxy steroid found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity. Cholesterol is the principal sterol synthesized by animals, but small quantities are synthesized in other eukaryotes, such as plants and fungi. It is almost completely absent among prokaryotes, which include bacteria. Cholesterol is classified as a sterol.

Since cholesterol is essential for life, it is primarily synthesized de novo within the body. However excessive levels of cholesterol in blood circulation are strongly associated with progression of atherosclerosis. For an adult, typical total body cholesterol synthesis is about 1 gram per day (less if dietary intake is high) and total body cholesterol content is about 35 g. Average dietary intake in western societies is 0.2 - 0.3 grams. Cholesterol is excreted by the liver via the bile into the digestive tract. Typically about 50% of the excreted cholesterol is reabsorbed by the small bowel back into the blood stream.

The name cholesterol originates from the Greek chole- (bile) and stereos (solid), and the chemical suffix -ol for an alcohol, as François Poulletier de la Salle first identified cholesterol in solid form in gallstones, in 1769. However, it was only in 1815 that chemist Eugène Chevreul named the compound "cholesterine".